What Loyola Means to Me: Getting Behind the Wheel of Loyola

Posted by Sam Winstrom

I’ve moved 5 times in my life and have never been able to really connect myself to one location and call it home until I came to Loyola.
I thought New Orleans would be another city for me to blow through in four years and move on, but Loyola had other plans for me.
The first day I set foot on campus I was challenged to change the university and make it my own. It was like Havok himself handed me the keys to Loyola and told me to bring it back with a full tank in 4 years.
It’s been about 3 years so far and it’s been one hell of a ride. I’ve joined the honors program, organized trips across the country, become an RA and have been elected editor-in-chief of the paper all because whenever I’d get an idea in my head to do something, everyone at Loyola always asked me: why not?
Whether someone wants to learn a new language, compete nationally in their favorite sport or even leave the country for a couple years, Loyola is there to help them figure out how, even if it’s never been done before.
Even with all the resources Loyola has and will get for it’s students, it wouldn’t feel like home without close friends. The people I’ve met at Loyola and the city have become like a family to me. From the festivals to the concerts and crawfish boils, I’ve done things with my friends that I might never get to share with anyone again after I graduate and that alone makes the relationships I’ve started here unique.
My story isn’t special though. Everyone gets a chance to do what they want here and turn Loyola into whatever they want it to be. During the centennial celebration it became clear to me that it’s been that way for 100 years now. Seeing students from decades ago move to integrate the school, start the first fraternity on any Jesuit campus and shaped the world we see every day doesn’t show whats already been done, but what can be done.
It’s a big responsibility to get behind the wheel of a something that’s meant so much to so many people and I’ve given it a few dents and scratches in my three years, but that’s the way it should be. So how have you taken on Loyola to make it your own?